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No, that was my fear of commitment talking. My fear of doing anything longer than three weeks at a time.
Though, it was slowly giving way to another fear. One I didn’t think was possible after all this time.
I passed through the hallways, leaving Hunter to mull over his decision in the conference room in peace. A colorful painting in the hallway caught my eye, the only splash of color in the bland furnishings my cousins undoubtedly selected.
My grandparents loved color and flair, as was evident in the many themed bedrooms upstairs in Hummingbird Hollow. Every room told a story. Even the downstairs rooms, which varied from blue and gold color pallets to rich autumn hues. They had not been the ones to decorate this office. At least not as it stood now.
Except this painting.
The painting stood out on its own, depicting a wintery scene beside an ice skating rink. Colorful lights twinkled on a Christmas tree, towering over the small people and nearly meeting the tops of the small downtown shops and buildings. A few daring skaters braved the frigid temperatures, twirling about on the ice in frozen portraits of happiness.
Two figures stood out among them. Both skaters, locked in a loving embrace, stole the viewer’s attention almost instantly. They were clearly the focal point of the entire piece—two hearts suspended in one moment in time.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A voice said beside me.
I turned toward Irma, who smiled up at the painting with the same starry-eyed look in her features as I felt in mine.
“It was your grandfather’s gift to your grandmother,” Irma continued. “He gave it to her on their tenth wedding anniversary.”
I nodded. “It’s breathtaking. But why is it all the way back here? It should be in the lobby or something like that, where everyone can see and enjoy it.”
Irma laughed, a tight sound somewhere between a snort and scoff. “It was at one point. But your cousins thought it was too sentimental. They wanted to move it into Hummingbird Hollow, but your grandmother insisted it remained here. It was a symbol of your grandparents’ love. One they hoped to bring here, to others.”
That sounded all too familiar, too. None of this felt like my grandma and grandpa, or any of the principles they stood for. Kyle and Vanessa must have spent years slowly appropriating everything they could get their hands on, dissolving the pieces of the company that reflected the interests of our grandparents until nothing of theirs remained.
This was Kyle’s company now. It likely had been for years. My grandmother lost interest in it after my grandfather passed away. And even before then, they’d been too distracted and too tired to put all their time into it.
This can’t be what your grandparents had in mind when they started this thing.
Why had those words bothered me so much?
He was throwing my words back in my face, using personal details I never should have shared with him against me. And yet…
He was right.
My grandparents stood for love. It was all they ever cared about. Yet, somewhere along the way, their business stopped being about love and more about the results.
“It is lovely,” I said again. “Maybe, I’ll move it back out into the lobby when Kyle and Vanessa aren’t watching.”
“I wish but they miss nothing.”
“What happened to this place?” I asked, to no one in particular. “Was it always like this?”
Irma laughed lightly, only this time without a hint of sarcasm. Only a soft, pleasant nostalgia reigned over her as she stared through the hallways around them. Whatever she saw in her travels through the past, it was not the cold monochromatic walls surrounding them now. With my grandparents at the helm, I imagine this place looked entirely different.
“It was wonderful,” Irma explained. “Customer satisfaction was through the roof. There was no need to worry about retaining clients so long as you treated them like people. Your grandparents took care of everything. I was their assistant, but they met with every client individually. They asked them specific questions about what they wanted, and they always seemed to match the right people with one another. It was a thing of magic to witness.”
“Then Vanessa and Kyle took over,” I said, recognizing the course of events instantly.
It was no surprise. My cousins’ idea of marriage and love existed on an entirely different plane than the rest of the world. It only stood to reason they would build an empire based on finding mutual agreements for marriage, rather than pairing up individuals with their soulmates.
“It didn’t change overnight, you know?” Irma explained. “Kyle was actually quite amazing at first. Vanessa, too. But something changed once they took over more responsibilities. I’m not sure if it was the need to make more money or feeling like they needed to compete in a market of dating apps. I always thought what made your grandparents’ business so special was how it didn’t do what all those newfangled apps did. It brought people together in ways almost beyond this world.”
A fire kindled deep within my heart, one fueled by pride and love for my grandparents who deserved every word of admiration. It was exactly how I remembered my grandmother and grandfather. They loved bringing people together. They loved people in general. It was why they always hosted so many parties, why Hummingbird Hollow acted as a home away from home for me.
They truly lived in a world all their own.
One I could only hope to get close to one day, with someone who loved me even half as much as they loved each other.
